History of Merrimack and Belknap counties, New Hampshire, Part 79

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia [Pa.] J. W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1520

USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > History of Merrimack and Belknap counties, New Hampshire > Part 79
USA > New Hampshire > Belknap County > History of Merrimack and Belknap counties, New Hampshire > Part 79

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

There are, indeed, few among our New England towns of corresponding size which include among their inhabitants a larger number of active and suc- cessful business men, or whose progress has been signalized during the last quarter of a century by a more substantial industrial development.

Alvah Woodbury Sulloway is one of the best known, mnost practical, energetic and public-spirited among the enterprising business men of this prosperous and progressive town.

While the State of Massachusetts has drawn from our midst a large proportion of the men whose labors have brought the prosperity and distinction which that proud old commonwealth enjoys, she has given New Hampshire, in return, some of her own sons,

Amırıun Bonk Note to.Bortens

323

FRANKLIN.

whose efforts have contributed, in no small degree, to advance the honor and welfare of the State of their adoption. Among these is the subject of this sketch. Born in Framingham, Mass., December 25, 1838, Mr .. Sulloway is now in his forty-seventh year. He is the only son and eldest child of Israel W. and Adeline Richardson Sulloway, to whom three daughters were also born, two of whom are living,-one unmarried, and the other the wife of Herbert Bailey, Esq., a prominent manufacturer of the town of Claremont.

Israel W. Sulloway was born in Salem, N. H., De- cember 24, 1812, and sprang from Revolutionary an- cestry on both the paternal and maternal sides, his mother being the daughter of Captain Israel Wood- bury, of Salem, who served in the patriot army through- out the war for independence.

He engaged in manufacturing service in youth, and was for some time an overseer in the Saxonville woolen-mills. In 1848 he removed to Enfield, N. H., where he introduced the process of making the cele -. brated Shaker socks by machinery, being the first manufacturer to engage in this enterprise. He estab- lished a prosperous business, which he carried on about sixteen years, when he sold out to his son-in- law, Mr. Bailey, and retired from active life, locating at Waltham, Mass. He died suddenly, November 20, 1883,-a man of remarkably kind and benevolent dis- position, whose sterling qualities won the respect of all who enjoyed his acquaintance.

In his father's mill at Enfield, Alvah W. Sulloway, gained that practical knowledge of the business in which he has since been engaged, which constituted the sure foundation of the success he has attained therein.

He secured a good academical education at Canaan and Barre, Vt., and the Green Mountain Liberal In- stitute, at South Woodstock; but spent a considera- ble portion of his time, between the ages of ten and twenty-one years, in active labor in the mill, thor- oughly familiarizing himself with the various pro- cesses in hosiery manufacture and the general con- duct of business in that important line of industry.

Upon attaining his majority, with that ambitious and independent spirit which so generally character- izes the youth of New England, and to which the de- velopment and prosperity of all sections of our coun- try are so largely due, Mr. Sulloway determined to go into business for himself. His purpose received the ready encouragement and sanction of his father, and, after due deliberation, he formed a partnership with Walter Aiken, of Franklin, in the manufacture of hosiery. The partnership continued for abont four years, when it was dissolved by mutual consent, and another firm was organized which put in operation a new mill.

This firm consisted of Mr. Sulloway and Frank H. Daniell, of Franklin, who carried on business to- gether until 1869, when Mr. Daniell withdrew, and Mr. Sulloway has since been sole proprietor. The

mill is situated upon the lower power of the Winni- piseogee, opposite the mills of the Paper Company, the power being used in common by the two estab- lishments. The building is of brick, three stories high, with basement, contains four sets of woolen ma- chinery, with about seventy-five knitting-machines, and furnishes employment for about ninety opera- tives, besides a large number of women in the vicinity and surrounding towns, whose labor is required in finishing the work which the machines leave incom- plete.

The goods manufactured are the Shaker socks, or half-hose, of which more than three hundred dozen pairs are produced daily, giving an annual product of about one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The monthly pay-roll averages abont two thousand five hundred dollars, aside from the amount paid for out- side labor.

Mr. Sulloway is a business man in the true sense of the term, and as such he has been thus far eminently successful. But while devoting his energies and abil- ity to the development of his own business interests, and thereby indirectly conferring large benefit upon the community in which he moves, he has never failed to contribute by direct personal effort to the advancement of all measures of public utility and ma- terial progress, and to his labor and encouragement, personally and pecuniarily, as much as to any other among its many enterprising and public-spirited citi- zens, the town of Franklin is indebted for the ad- vanced position which it holds when regarded from a business, social or educational stand-point. He was a prime mover in the organization of the Franklin National Bank, which went into operation in Novem- ber, 1879, and has been president of the institution from the start. He has also been a trustee of the Franklin Savings-Bank ever since its establishment, and for several years past a member of the committee of investment. In 1880 he was chosen a member of the board of directors of the Northern Railroad, and in March, 1885, he was appointed president of the same corporation.

In politics Mr. Sulloway is an ardent Democrat, an earnest and enthusiastic worker in the party cause, and his labors in this direction have been largely instrumental in bringing his party into as- cendancy in Franklin, which was for many years one of the hardest-contested political battle-grunnds in the State, numbering, as it does, among its citizens several of the most active leaders of the two great par- ties. In 1871, although the town was then decidedly Republican, he was chosen a member of the State Legislature from Franklin, and was re-elected the following year. In 1874, and again in 1875, he was elected to the same position.

In the Legislature, as everywhere else, he proved himself a thoroughly practical man, devoting himself actively to business and leaving speech-making to those inclined to talk rather than work. In 1871 he

324

HISTORY OF MERRIMACK COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

served on the committee on elections; in 1872, upon railroads ; in 1874, was chairman of the committee on manufactures, where his close acquaintance with manufacturing interests fitted him for most efficient service ; and in 1875 was again a member of the elec- tions committee. In 1874, when the Democratic party managers set to work systematically to win a victory in the State, Mr. Sulloway was nominated for rail- road commissioner upon the ticket headed by James A. Weston for Governor.

Although there was no choice by the people in the election that year, the Democracy won a substantial victory in that they secured a majority in the Legisla- ture, and the election of their candidates for Governor and railroad commissioner followed at the hands of that body. To the triumph of his party in the State the energetic labor of Mr. Sulloway in the general conduct of the campaign contributed in no small de- gree.

As a member of the Board of Railroad Commis- sioners for the term of three years, the last year as chairman of the board, he rendered the State efficient service, carrying into his official labors, so far as they extended, the same practical sagacity and judgment exercised in his own private business.

In January, 1877, Mr. Sulloway was nominated by the Democracy of the Second District as their candi- date for Congress against Major James F. Briggs, of Manchester, the Republican nominee. The district was strongly Republican, and that party had a popu- lar candidate in the field; yet Mr. Sulloway, with no expectation of an election, made a vigorous canvass and ran largely ahead of his ticket. He was also the candidate of his party in the district at the next elec- tion, and again in 1880, making lively work for his successful opponent, Major Briggs, on each occasion. He has been an active member of the Democratic State Committee for a number of years past, and for the greater portion of the time a member of the executive committee of that body, having direct charge of the campaign work.

He was a member of the New Hampshire delega- tion in the National Convention at St. Louis, in 1876, which nominated Samuel J. Tilden for the Presi- dency, and was an enthusiastic supporter of Mr. Til- den, not only in convention, but also in the subse- quent campaign, in which he was actively engaged as a member of the Democratic National Committee from this State. In 1880 he was again a delegate to the National Convention of his party at Cincinnati, where General Hancock was nominated ; and in 1884, at Chicago, he was a zealous supporter of Governor Cleveland.

In religion Mr. Sulloway is an adherent of the lib- eral faith. He was reared a Universalist, and is now an active member of the Unitarian Society in Frank- lin. In this organization, as in business and politics, he is an earnest worker, and to his encouragement and material assistance is largely due the erection of the

finest church edifice in the town. He has been trus- tee of this society from its beginning, and is also a member of the board of trustees of the Unitarian Edu- cational Society, under whose auspices Proctor Acad- emy, at Andover, is conducted.

In 1866, Mr. Sulloway was united in marriage to Miss Susan K. Daniell, the youngest daughter of the late J. F. Daniell, and a sister of Hon. Warren F. and Frank H. Daniell. They have three children,-a daughter and two sons,-the eldest, Alice, born Au- gust 5, 1871 ; Richard Woodbury, born February 15, 1876; and Frank Jones, born December 11, 1883.

Their home is a fine modern residence, erected in 1877, beautifully located in a bend of the Winnipi- seogee River, surrounded by handsome grounds, with all its appointments conducive to the comfort of the family and the hosts of friends who share their gen- erous hospitality.

Mr. Sulloway is a man of keen perceptive powers and ready judgment, so that he is enabled to form conclusions upon all practical questions presented with more than ordinary promptness and accuracy. His opinion in all matters of public interest and con- cern in the community in which he resides is as fre- quently sought and carries as great weight as that of any other man, to say the least, and the same also may be said of his advice in private business affairs.

He is frank and outspoken at all times, and never hesitates to say just what he thinks when called upon to express himself in any direction. He has many warm friends, and enjoys a full measure of popularity in social as well as in public and business circles. He was a moving spirit in the organization of the New Hampshire Club, an association formed by New Hampshire men doing business in Boston, for social entertainment, and has been a leading member of the same from the start. Endowed with an active mind, and healthy and vigorous bodily powers, he has great capacity for labor, and will unquestionably accom- plish even more substantial results in the future than have already attended his efforts.

WARREN F. DANIELL.

In almost every instance, those who, during the first half of the present century, laid about the water- falls of New Hampshire the foundations of our manufacturing villages, builded better than they knew. They were generally men of limited ambitions and means, and established their factories without the ex- pectation that they were changing worthless plains and forests into cities or plain mechanics into millionaires. They aimed only to create productive industries and win a fair reward for their labor. But they were skillful workmen, and under their inspiration and direction their enterprises have grown into great proportions, which have made the fortunes of their owners and called into being communities that are models of the best that skill aud thrift can produce.

MarenKamil

325

FRANKLIN.

To this class belonged Kendall O. and James L. Peabody and Jeremiah F. Daniell, who, over fifty years ago, built a paper-mill in the forest that then grew about the falls on the Winnipiseogee where the wealthy, wide-awake and beautiful village of Franklin Falls now stands.

The Peabodys built a small mill at this point about the year 1828. Their knowledge of the paper busi- ness was very limited, their machinery of the most primitive kind and their experiment was not at first a success ; but they were men not easily turned from their purposes. They secured the services of a practical paper-maker, Jeremiah F. Daniell, who knew the business thoroughly, and was by education, as well as by natural abilities, well qualified to prove an efficient helper to men who, like the Peabodys, were trying to establish a new enterprise in the face of many discouragements. He had worked at his trade in Pepperell, Mass., also in Dorchester and Methuen. While at Pepperell, he married Sarah Reed, of Har- vard, Mass., hy whom he had two children,-Warren F., the subject of this sketch, who was born June 26, 1826, and Mary, who died in infancy.

On going to Franklin he was given an interest in the business and hecame a permanent resident. In the face of many obstacles, he secured from South Wind- ham., Conn., a newly-invented paper-machine, which was transported across the country by two eight- horse teams and set up ready for husiness. Mr. Daniell purchased the interest of J. L. Peabody, and the firm became Peabody & Daniell. The machinery was scarcely in position when a fire destroyed the factory and its contents, leaving the owners bankrupt in nearly everything but courage and a determination to succeed, which enabled them to finally rebuild and proceed in a small way with their business.

The erection of the cotton-mills at Manchester gave them an opportunity to purchase large amounts of paper stock at low prices, and from that time they were moderately prosperous. The next year after the removal of Mr. Daniell from Massachusetts his wife died, and a year later he married Annette East- man, of Concord. His son, Warren F., was at that time a wide-awake boy of ten years. He had picked up a little book-knowledge in the Massachusetts schools, and that he might be further educated with- out much expense, was sent to Concord, where he worked upon a farm for his board and clothes and the privilege of attending school a short time each winter, until, at the age of fourteen, he was called home and entered the paper-mill as an apprentice to learn the business with which his name is now so prominently identified. It was his purpose, at a later period, to attend the academy at Tilton; but on the day on which the term began his father was severely burned, and Warren F. was obliged to take his place in the mill, where he became master of the trade in all its branches. As a journeyman, his wages were one dollar and twenty-five cents per day. Warren F. was am-

bitious at some time to have a mill of his own, and with this object in view, he went to Waterville, Me., and with other parties erected and ran a paper-mill at that place, when, a year later, he took charge of a mill at Pepperell, Mass., where he remained until 1854, at which time his father bought out Mr. Pea- body and asked his son to join him at Franklin, which he did, and the firm became J. F. Daniell & Son, and under that name was for ten years prosperous and successful. In 1864, Warren F. bought his father's interest and became sole proprietor, and so continued until in 1870, when the mill property, which had grown to be one of the largest and best-known private manufacturing establishments in the State, was sold to a company of Massachusetts capitalists, who organ- ized as the Winnipisogee Paper Company. Mr. Daniell then became connected with a large paper- house in Boston ; but soon tiring of city life, returned to Franklin, and, with a large interest in the company, became its resident agent and manager, which position he still occupies. This company owns large paper-mills supplied with the best machinery, em- ploys three hundred hands and produces about twenty tons of paper daily, and in its large measure of suc- cess is a monument to the sagacity and enterprise of the man who plans and directs its operations, who, without the help of a liberal education, has won his way hy hard and patient work to a first place among the business men of the State. While compassing his own success, Mr. Daniell has contributed much to that of others, and in his struggle upward has pulled no one down.

The business world acknowledges him as a man of undoubted integrity, thoroughly responsible and eminently successful; a genial man whose good- fellowship never tires, and whose hospitality and generosity are inexhaustible. In 1850, Mr. Daniell married, Elizabeth D. Rundlett, of Stratham, and had one child, Harry W. She died in Pepperell in 1854. He married, second, Abbie A. Sanger, of Concord, October, 1860, from which union there are Eugene S., Otis, Warren F., Jr., and Jerie R.

Mr. Daniell is much interested in agriculture, and owns a large farm, which is under a high state of cultivation. He has long been the owner of the best herd of Jersey cattle in the State. His stables con- tain some of the finest horses ; he admires a good dog, and is a skillful breeder of swine and poultry. He has contributed much to the introduction of improved stock, crops and farm machinery in his neighbor- hood ; has been active and liberal in sustaining the State and local agricultural societies, and in other- wise promoting the farming interest.

In politics Mr. Daniell is a Democrat, and such has been his popularity at home that he has represented his towu, which is Republican, several times in the Legislature, and was twice chosen Senator in a dis- trict which no other Democrat could have carried. He represented his party in the National Convention

326

HISTORY OF MERRIMACK COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

of 1872, and has always been one of its trusted coun-, selors and efficient workers, and but for his refusal would have been its candidate for Governor and for Congress.

During the war he gave himself to the cause of the Union as represented by the " boys in blue," voting to raise and equip all the men who were needed, giving liberally to provide for them and their families and supporting by word and deed on all occasions the cause for which they fought.

WALTER AIKEN.

The first ancestor, Edward (1), came from the north of Ireland about 1722, and settled in Londonderry, N. H., and became one of the proprietors. His son, Nathaniel (2), lived in Londonderry and was an en- ergetic business man. One of his sons, Thomas (3), moved to Deering, N. H., and carried on farming there. His son, Matthew (4), was born in Deering, N. H., March 21, 1776, and moved to Pelham, N. H., and was a saddler and harness-maker there. He married Sally Hackett, daughter of Colonel Hackett, of Portsmouth, N. H., who built there the first frigate for the United States government that was engaged in the Revolutionary War.

The children from this union were James Gilman (5), born May 10, 1795, who was a soldier in the War of 1812, and was last heard from by his family as an officer at the battle of New Orleans, where it is sup- posed he fell, January 8, 1815. Herrick (5) was born in Peterborough, N. H., June 8, 1797. Sally (5), born May 10, 1799, married Phineas Stevens, who was an engineer and built a number of prominent mills in New Hampshire. Emma (5), born June 10, 1802, married David Hamblett, a millwright, of Man- chester, N. H., died April 12, 1885. Alfred (5), born July 11, 1804, was a tanner, who lived first in Ben- nington, N. H., and removed to Beckett, Mass., and there died September 25, 1878.

Herrick (5) first set up in business as a manufac- turer of machinery at Dracut, Mass., and moved to Franklin, N. H., and set up business in the old shop of Daniel Herrick, in 1838, which business he carried on in that vicinity for many years. He was an in- ventor and received letters patent on many useful and cunning machines, among which were a " spiral- brush " and a leather-splitting machine. He also re- ceived several medals for valuable inventions. He conceived the plan of using a cog-rail for steep grades on railroads and constructed a model at his shop that worked well. Thinking to apply his in- vention upon a road to the top of Mt. Washington, he rode up on horse-back, and although convinced in his own mind that by his plan the summit could be reached, he was unable to convince the railroad men and capitalists that his plan was feasible, and the honor of the achievement, a few years later, went to others. Mr. Aiken was a good citizen, a successful

business man and a kind husband and father, and died November 7, 1866.

At Dracut, Mass., February 5, 1830, he married Ann Matilda, daughter of Isaac Bradley, of that place. She was born August 28, 1810, and was a descendant in the fifth generation of the renowned Hannah Dustan, of Haverhill, Mass. She died January 6, 1884.

The children from this union were Walter (6), born October 5, 1831, in Dracut, Mass .; Jonas Brad- ley (6), born August 23, 1833, at the same place ; James Hackett (6), born June 20, 1835, died of chol- era in Calcutta.

Francis Herrick (6), born June 10, 1843, in Frank- lin, N. H. He succeeded his father in business, carrying it on successfully. He built a fine residence in Franklin and died January 16, 1876. He was a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, a thirty- two-degree Mason. He married Hannah A. Colby, of Hill, N. H., September, 1865.

Charles Lowe (6) was born July 23, 1845. He re- sided in Elkhart, Ind., for several years and is now an employé of the Old Colony Railroad Com- pany,, at Tannton, Mass. He married Isabella Bur- leigh, of Thornton.

Jonas Bradley (6), the second son, has been quite prominent among the business men of his time and had extensive business connections, although he retired from active business some years ago. He married, first, Helen M. Scribner, of Franklin, in 1864. She died April 14, 1865, the same day upon which President Lincoln died. He married, second, Addie G. Proctor, of Northfield, Vt. The only child from the first marriage, Alice Matilda (7), died in infancy. The children from the second marriage are Mary Louisa (7), born November 19, 1867; Charles Wilson (7), born August 21, 1869; and George Proctor (7), horn December 5, 1873, who was drowned May 10, 1876.

Walter, the subject of this sketch, passed his boy- hood at the old home, and, in addition to the advan- tages of the common schools, he attended for two years the Gilmanton Academy and also the institutes at New Hampton and Tilton. He entered his father's machine-shop at an early age, and, having a natural talent for mechanics, he rapidly developed, and at the age of twenty-two years started in business for him- self in an upper room in his father's shop, where he invented and built one of the first knitting-machines in the country. A pioneer in the invention and man- nfacture of knitting-machines, Mr. Aiken has taken out over forty patents, and his latest machine makes a perfect stocking withont seam in less than five min- utes and works automatically. He also invented a machine to make gimlet-pointed screws. Mr. Aiken is also a woolen manufacturer, producing as many as four hundred dozen pairs of stockings per day. He also built the house on the summit of Mt. Wash- ington, owning one-half of it ; assisted in building the railroad up the mountain ; became the general

Walter Alien

327

FRANKLIN.

manager at the opening of the road, in 1869, and has continued in that capacity, making the most complete success as a financial venture. Mr. Aiken designed the locomotive in use on the Mt. Washington Rail- way. He, in connection with Sylvester Marsh, has perfected and carried into complete operation the work which Herrick Aiken had so many years before conceived, viz. : to build a railroad to the top of Mt. Washington. His residence, on a bluff overlooking the village, is one of the finest in Franklin. Mr. Aiken owns the Hamilton Hotel, at the Bermuda Is- lands, with all the modern improvements and capable of entertaining two hundred and fifty guests. He built the signal station on Mt. Washington for the

United States government in 1873; built the Summit House in 1872. Mr. Aiken is a Democrat; was in the War of the Rebellion ; has been a representative to the General Court for four years and is a director of each of the banks in Franklin, and a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity and also of the Odd- Fellows. "The old Granite State " may well be proud of such sons. He married, first, Susan Colby, of Warner, in 1853; he married, second, Mary Dodge, of Hampton Falls, Jannary 1, 1867. The children by the first marriage were James (7), born February 5, 1854, and Frederick (7), born November 4, 1855. These children are now living.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Merrimack and Belknap counties, New Hampshire, Part 79

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Philadelphia [Pa.] J. W. Lewis & co. Number of Pages: 1520

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia [Pa.] J. W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1520